Satellite Images Show Damage From Iranian Strike on Coalition Base at Erbil Airport

Iran targeted the international coalition base inside Erbil International Airport with missiles and drones early Wednesday, September 2, as part of a broader wave of attacks on U.S. positions and bases across the region.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it carried out a joint missile and drone attack on U.S. bases in Erbil. It claimed its forces destroyed a maintenance center and warehouses containing technical equipment and set fuel tanks inside the base on fire. The attack was accompanied by a series of explosions and fires around the airport.

Meanwhile, the Kurdistan Region’s Counter Terrorism Directorate said coalition forces intercepted and shot down 10 explosive-laden drones over Erbil province between 1:13 and 3:31 a.m. It said there were no casualties.

Initial U.S. assessments were consistent with the Kurdish authorities’ account. Reuters, citing U.S. officials, reported that the attacks caused no casualties.

Satellite Images Show Signs of Fire Inside Erbil Base

Images captured by the European Sentinel-2 satellite show recent signs of fire within the coalition base at Erbil International Airport, as well as other signs of burning around airport facilities, following Iran’s missile and drone attack early Wednesday.

Misbar compared satellite images taken on August 28 and September 2 and identified dark spots and other changes that were not visible in the earlier imagery.

The most significant changes were concentrated in the western part of the airport, where the base’s facilities are located, as well as in areas east and southeast of the runway. Some signs of burning appeared near buildings, service areas and other facilities inside the base, while additional signs were visible in open areas surrounding the airport.

NASA Data Detect Thermal Activity Inside Erbil Base

Data from NASA’s FIRMS system show that the VIIRS sensor aboard the NOAA-20 satellite detected two adjacent thermal anomalies within the Erbil base at 11:58 p.m. UTC on September 1, corresponding to 2:58 a.m. local time in Erbil on September 2, around the time of the Iranian attack on the base.

The two detections appeared in adjacent thermal cells, suggesting they may have been caused by a single fire at the site.

Their locations correspond to an area where Misbar identified recent burn marks and surface changes in Sentinel-2 imagery, further suggesting a possible connection between the thermal activity and the attack.

U.S.-Iran Escalation

The attack on the Erbil base came amid a new wave of escalation that brought direct U.S.-Iran confrontation back into focus after nearly a month of reduced hostilities between the two sides.

The latest escalation began on August 30, when U.S. forces targeted two Iranian missile launchers on Larak Island near the Strait of Hormuz. Washington said Iranian forces were preparing to use the launchers as part of operations to lay naval mines. Tehran responded by launching ballistic missiles toward U.S. forces in Jordan.

The confrontation intensified on September 1, when U.S. forces launched a new wave of strikes against Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targets inside Iran.

U.S. Central Command said the strikes targeted air defense sites, radar systems, naval assets and facilities, mine-laying capabilities, and communications sites.

In the hours that followed, Iran launched missiles and drones at bases and military facilities hosting U.S. forces in Iraq, Jordan, Bahrain and Kuwait. It was the largest exchange of attacks between Tehran and Washington since July.

The escalation comes amid the broader regional conflict that began on February 28, 2026. Since then, U.S. and Israeli strikes have targeted sites inside Iran, while Iranian attacks have targeted bases and other facilities hosting U.S. forces in several countries across the region.

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